Around the ACC: Week 13

The top 11 teams in the ACC are all at least 5-6 in conference play, making up one of the deepest conferences ever.

No. 12 North Carolina (21-4, 9-2)

Junior Justin Jackson led the Tar Heels to two close wins this week with 20 points Tuesday against Pittsburgh and 16 points Sunday against Notre Dame. The matchup with the Fighting Irish was postponed a day and moved to the Greensboro Coliseum due to the weekend's water crisis in Chapel Hill. North Carolina never trailed against the Panthers but had to hold on down the stretch for an 80-78 win and had six players in double figures in the 83-76 victory against the Fighting Irish with a 44-25 rebounding advantage.

The Tar Heels will make the short trip to Durham Thursday for their first showdown of the year with Duke at 8 p.m.

No. 15 Florida State (20-4, 8-3)

The Seminoles bounced back from two straight losses last week with a comfortable 75-57 victory at Miami Wednesday before blowing Clemson out 109-61 Sunday. A 13-0 run early in the second half erased a three-point halftime deficit against the Hurricanes, and sophomore Dwayne Bacon matched a career high with 29 points in the rout of the Tigers. Thirteen different Florida State players scored Sunday, as the Seminoles shot 66.1 percent from the field and 17-of-30 from 3-point range.

No. 9 Virginia (17-5, 7-3)

The stakes were not as high for the Cavaliers Saturday against Syracuse as they were last March in the Elite Eight, but the end result was the same—a second-half meltdown in an upset loss. Virginia's vaunted pack line defense gave up 44 points in the second half and did not score for the first seven minutes of the period, watching a 12-point lead evaporate. The loss came after a dominant 71-48 win against Virginia Tech Wednesday, with three Cavaliers scoring at least 14 points.

Left for dead a month ago, the Orange are the hottest team in the ACC riding a four-game winning streak after two improbable comebacks this week. Trailing by 16 on the road against N.C. State with 8:48 remaining Wednesday, Syracuse went on a 17-2 run in a span of less than three minutes to trim the deficit to one and finally tied it on two free throws by John Gillon with 40 seconds left.

When Wolfpack guard Maverick Rowan drilled a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left to put his team back in front, Gillon—who poured in a career-high 43 points and shot 9-of-10 from beyond the arc—sent the game to overtime with a double-clutch triple with 1.1 seconds on the clock. The Orange scored the first seven points of the extra session in the 100-93 victory.

JHN GILLN

✔️ 43 points: 4th highest in @Cuse_MBB history
✔️ 9-for-10 from 3-point range
✔️ CLUTCH 3 to send to OT
✔️ #MustSeeACC pic.twitter.com/VedOzGb6YL

— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) February 2, 2017

Syracuse followed that up by rallying from a 12-point halftime deficit against Virginia Saturday to win 66-62, shooting 54.8 percent from the field behind 23 points each from Tyus Battle and Andrew White III. It was the 1,000th game the Orange have won with Hall of Fame head coach Jim Boeheim at the helm, though he is only credited with 899 since Syracuse had to vacate 101 wins due to NCAA violations.

No. 21 Duke (18-5, 6-4)

The Blue Devils started a strong week with an 84-74 win at Notre Dame Monday before edging Pittsburgh 72-64 at home Saturday in head coach Mike Krzyzewski's return to the sidelines. Duke held the Fighting Irish to just 25 points in the first half and fended off a late rally, fueled by freshman Jayson Tatum's 19 points and 14 rebounds. Against the Panthers, the Blue Devils trailed 43-42 with less than nine minutes remaining, but Grayson Allen scored 18 of his 21 points in the last eight minutes of the game to help them pull away.

Duke has a few days off now before its biggest rival comes to town Thursday night.

No. 20 Notre Dame (17-7, 6-5)

After starting ACC play 5-0, the Fighting Irish have been hit hard by the toughest stretch of their schedule with four straight losses and five in their last six games. Twice this week, Notre Dame trimmed a double-digit second-half deficit to one possession but it could not finish the job either time against Duke or North Carolina. Senior V.J. Beachem scored 20 points in both games to lead the Fighting Irish, who will have a chance to end their skid Tuesday against Wake Forest.

Virginia Tech (16-6, 5-5)

The Hokies had the weekend off to dwell on their blowout loss at Virginia Wednesday night, when they shot just 35.7 percent from the field and 3-of-20 from 3-point range in their worst offensive game of the year. Virginia Tech got outrebounded 37-22 and had five assists and 14 turnovers in the loss, but will get another shot at home against the Cavaliers Sunday after a game at Miami Wednesday.

Miami (15-7, 5-5)

Three days after the Hurricanes fell apart in the second half against Florida State, they finished strong on the road at N.C. State, rallying from a nine-point halftime deficit to win 84-79. Davon Reed scored 26 points and shot 7-of-10 from long range to lead Miami, which took its first lead of the second half on a jumper from Ja'Quan Newton with 13:52 left and pulled ahead for good on a Reed triple with 7:42 remaining.

Wake Forest (14-9, 5-6)

The Demon Deacons took care of business this week, scoring more than 80 points in wins against Georgia Tech and Boston College to separate themselves from the bottom tier of the ACC. Forward John Collins had a double-double in both contests, averaging 23.0 points and 13.5 rebounds on a combined 16-of-26 shooting. Wake Forest trailed the Eagles by seven with nine minutes left but took control with a 14-0 run, holding Boston College for nearly five minutes.

Georgia Tech (13-10, 5-6)

The Yellow Jackets came crashing back to earth with double-digit losses at Clemson and Wake Forest this week. Center Ben Lammers scored 25 points on 12-of-18 shooting Wednesday against the Tigers but made more field goals than the rest of his team combined in the 74-62 defeat. Freshman Josh Okogie led the way with 23 points against the Demon Deacons, but Georgia Tech shot just 35.7 percent from the field in the 81-69 loss

Clemson (13-9, 3-7)

Avry Holmes made all four of his 3-point attempts and led five players in double figures in the Tigers' win against Georgia Tech, but Clemson could not keep the momentum going and decided to take a day off from playing defense at Florida State. The Tigers committed 22 turnovers and allowed the Seminoles to dish out 26 assists in the 48-point loss.

N.C. State (14-10, 3-8)

The Wolfpack had what is becoming expected of a week in the life of N.C. State, which is to say they had two second-half meltdowns ending in painful losses. Freshman Dennis Smith Jr. had a triple-double with 13 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds, Maverick Rowan scored 31 points and the Wolfpack made 14 triples against Syracuse, but they allowed the Orange to shoot 15-of-26 from beyond the arc and lost. 

Smith Jr. followed his triple-double up with 31 points on 10-of-15 shooting and nine assists against Miami, but N.C. State allowed the Hurricanes to shoot 11-of-21 from long range and lost. The Wolfpack's win at Cameron Indoor Stadium Jan. 30 did nothing to turn their season around, and they are wasting what is almost sure to be their only year with one of the best talents in the nation.

Boston College (9-15, 2-9)

The Eagles have now dropped seven games in a row after home losses this week to Wake Forest and Louisville and have allowed three straight opponents to score at least 85 points. Freshman Ky Bowman scored 18 points in both defeats and combined with sophomore Jordan Chatman to shoot 8-of-11 from beyond the arc against the Demon Deacons.

Pittsburgh (12-11, 1-9)

The Panthers are suffering through an eight-game losing streak, but stayed close in narrow victories at North Carolina and Duke this week. Guard Cameron Johnson had 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting in Chapel Hill, and Jamel Artis and Michael Young—the ACC's two leading scorers—combined for 36 points against the Tar Heels and 41 points against the Blue Devils, but Pittsburgh is still in dire need of other scoring threats with no role players stepping up.

One of the ACC's two longest streaks will end Wednesday night when the Panthers trek to Chestnut Hill, Mass., to play Boston College.